Identity, trust, and the experiences of refugees during a COVID-19 lockdown

Melati Nungsari, Hui Yin Chuah and Sam Flanders

PLOS ONE, 2022, vol. 17, issue 8, 1-20

Abstract: This paper examines the experiences of refugees in a developing country during its first COVID-19 lockdown by utilizing a two-stage qualitative data analysis of 39 interviews with refugees and asylum-seekers. We find that their experiences during the lockdown are shaped by identity, trauma and help from external parties–such as community leaders and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Experiences during the pandemic in turn moderate the relationship between policy changes and trust in domestic authority figures, which consequently affects attitudes towards and compliance with public health measures put in place to contain the pandemic. We then explore the role of identity in refugees’ pandemic experiences by comparing the differences between two refugee groups (Syrians and Rohingyas), validating them by utilizing comparative thematic analysis. Finally, the paper presents policy implications for crisis response in developing countries by suggesting improvements that can be made on the ground regarding the delivery of aid and assistance to vulnerable groups.

Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0271977 (text/html)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id= ... 71977&type=printable (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0271977

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271977

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in PLOS ONE from Public Library of Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by plosone ().